The more critics doubt Eagles' chances, the more players believe in themselves

It's a phrase that's been used by many teams, Pete Carroll's Seattle Seahawks included.

The noise. It is doubters and folks jumping off a bandwagon at the slightest sign.

It comes from outside the locker room. It comes from talk radio blowhards, hot take artists, columnists, national media influences and fans, both those who jumped on the bandwagon and diehards. 

The mantra among teammates is simple: "We're all we've got. We're all we need."

The Philadelphia Eagles adopted that philosophy this year, even before their league MVP-hopeful quarterback, Carson Wentz, had his season abruptly ended by injury.

Veteran leader Malcolm Jenkins, who usually leads the motivational chants before games, was right there in the locker room in Los Angeles, in the aftermath of Wentz's injury, to remind his teammates to block everything out.

"Carson being out... that sucks," Jenkins said in the locker room just moments after the game ended in which Wentz was injured. "But dig this, we set this up for whoever in this room, that’s who we ride with. We said, 'we all we got, we all we need.' Believe that."

That "whoever" in the room is Nick Foles. And after a few subpar performances, both on Christmas Day against the Oakland Raiders and in a short stint Sunday against Dallas, Foles' play has the aforementioned noise louder than ever before.

COLUMN: Eagles need Sidney Jones to play, and often, in playoffs

STORY: Foles looks to his past to prepare for his future

Once dubbed a favorite to at least reach the Super Bowl in Minnesota next month, the team with home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs has the fifth-worst chance out of the six NFC playoff teams at winning the Super Bowl, oddsmakers say.

After Sunday's game, when Foles completed four of 11 pass attempts for 39 yards and an interception, local talk radio shows had fans calling for Eagles coach Doug Pederson to start third-stringer Nate Sudfeld next week in the first playoff game. A couple days later, Pederson even had to confirm that Foles would indeed be his starter.

A quarterback controversy between a seasoned veteran and a rookie who has played less than one NFL game?

Just more noise, say the players.

Now, more than ever, they are using that "all we got, all we need" mentality.

“It’s just about us in this room, our team," rookie defensive end Derek Barnett said. "I don’t think we’re too concerned with what we’re hearing from outsiders because what’s going on in here is what matters. That’s what we’re focused on.”

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what the outside world thinks," running back Jay Ajayi said. "When you’re on a team, it’s a bubble. We believe what we have in this team.

"Obviously the media comes out with the storylines and everything about what’s going on. We don’t buy into that. We believe in what we have. We understand what’s in front of us and we’re in a great position to go achieve our goals. Other teams are at home right now. We’re ready to go get it done next week.”

STORY: Hopeless optimism? Some Eagles fans have faith in Wentz's backup

With Foles struggling, Ajayi and the team's running game might be in for more work in the playoffs. The 24-year-old was inactive in a relatively meaningless game Sunday and held out of practice Wednesday before returning Thursday. Pederson said Ajayi's injury history – he tore his ACL while at Boise State in 2011 – was one of the reason's he rested this week.

But Ajayi, who averaged 4.3 yards per carry in his final three regular-season games, said Thursday his knee hasn't bothered him at all.

“When I got here I didn’t need the rest day," Ajayi said. "I was practicing just fine. This week they told me they wanted to rest me yesterday. I just follow the instructions of the coaches and the trainers. That’s what I do.

"If they want to run me and use me in the game plan a lot, I’ll be ready for it. That’s what I’ve been preparing myself for. Basically, we’re getting ready for war out there."

With or without fans and media personalities on their side.

Wide receiver Torrey Smith said it's hard not to hear the noise, sometimes.

"You see it because you get tweeted or you’re watching ESPN or something," Smith said. "You can’t expect everyone to believe in you. No one believed in us before the season even started. I feel like our message has been the same since day one. It’s just that more people hopped along when Carson started playing like the MVP.

“We say all the time, ‘We’re all we got. We’re all we need.’ So that’s the way we approach it.”

Contact reporter Jeff Neiburg at (302) 983-6772, jneiburg@delawareonline.com or on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.